URL POETRY

Welcome this new, digital art form.

Have you noticed it? It’s called the “Social URL.” Using Buzzfeed as a model, Lucia Moses outlined some of the different kinds she’s seen:

Instructional social URL
Actual headline: 1 Chart That Explains Why People Are Wrong About Venn Diagrams
Social URL: http://www.buzzfeed.com/tomphillips/also-its-pronounced-oiler

The clever-wordplay social URL
Actual headline: 28 Snapchats From Harry Potter
Social URL: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jarrylee/snapechat

The tabloid headline-style social URL
Actual headline: This Boston Marathon Survivor Wrote A Breakup Letter To Her Leg Before Amputating It
Social URL: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/adios-leg

The emotional-reaction social URL
Actual headline: These Positive Doodles Are Utterly Delightful
Social URL: http://www.buzzfeed.com/maggyvaneijk/your-emotions-are-valid

But aside from being entertaining, why are content creators doing this? Buzzfeed, for example, gets 75 percent of its traffic from social media, so it’s not overly concerned with being a top google search result. A funny URL, on the other hand, will do more to up the chances of something going viral.

This is an ongoing project in which we collect beautiful ones that we see while Surfing The Net. Please respond with your own down at the bottom of this post, and we will include it in our master list!

BuzzFeed’s latest traffic trick: The ‘social URL’
http://digiday.com/publishers/lol-wut/

19 Furniture Makeovers That Prove Legs Can Change Everything
http://www.buzzfeed.com/alisoncaporimo/legs-for-days#.kf72KDdg3

Stop Everything Because Matt LeBlanc Just Sang The Songs Of Joey Tribbiani
http://www.buzzfeed.com/alivelez/the-one-where-matt-leblanc-is-the-best#.slYlA2yJG

We Should Use Brands, Not Love Them
http://www.psmag.com/business-economics/never-tweet-me-again-taco-bell-its-over-take-your-on-fleek-chalupas-to-some-other-dummy

The Object Clues in Your Lover’s Bedroom
http://www.psmag.com/books-and-culture/your-room-is-so-sexy

5 Points On How Vaccines Became The First GOP Litmus Test Of 2016
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/fivepoints/vaccines-presidential-litmus-test-wtf